Anthology of short stories for social work education

Social work as a profession should be realistically oriented to people's life styles and aspirations in relation to the realities of life which they continually face. The work of our most distinguished writers reflects this. Unfortunately, our social work educators have hardly used this vast and perennial source in Social Work Educa tion to enable students to understand the true meaning of social work and social science concepts. Even after thirty odd years, our social work educators rely heavily on writing that is rooted in western culture with its distinctive ethos. The indigeni sation of teaching material in India therefore is essential to enable students to understand social work and social science concepts in relation to individuals, the community and the society to which they belong.

This Anthology of contemporary short stories features the work of some of our most distinguished writers and deals with the themes of 'insight into Indian family and community life' and 'Indian social problems. These themes have relevance not only to social workers and social scientists, but to all those interested in working with people. It marks the first systematic attempt to indigenise and enrich social work education through the conscious use of Indian creative literature. Twenty-eight stories taken from regional languages were already translated into

English, and one was originally written in English. They reflect a wide range

of social situations and issues caused by changing political, economic and social

systems after Independence.

The accompanying Teachers' Manual is given at the end of the Anthology itself. The Anthology would not be complete without the Manual which suggests, by way of example, specific directions in which teachers of social work can draw relevant social work concepts and raise issues for further probing and discussion. This Manual distinguishes the Anthology from other collections of stories. The Anthol ogy and accompanying Teachers' Manual reveal the value of an interdisciplinary proach to social work education.